PLACEMAKING ---- Nick Ebbs CEO Blueprint and Director of Igloo

The word “placemaking” has always slightly troubled me. In part it is because

of vagaries of meaning associated with the word „place‟… so lets deal with

that now …for the purposes of today I am going to equate „place‟ with „City‟.

More significantly my discomfort is because the word carries the connotation

that places are made in the way that you might make any other artefact – a

chair or a car for instance. Whilst it is a truism that places are human

constructs such a narrow conception belies their proper significance. Places

are not inert objects but are dynamic; places do not have fixed edges but

have blurred boundaries, are complex and multilayered; places are not

created at one point in time but have usually evolved over a very long period

of time at the hands of very many agents.

In some respects places, especially at the city level, are better regarded as

organisms that grow, pulsate, metamorphose.

My other discomfort is that the language doesn‟t quite capture the notion that

cities are about people. Certainly successful cities are places where people

flourish, where there is life, vitality, exchange, creativity. It is not just about

buildings or transport networks. You can have a wonderfully ordered neat and

tidy place but if there is no life, if it is dull and monotonous then the place is a

failure. Alternatively a neighbourhood might look tired, a bit shabby even but if

there is bustling activity on the streets, if people look out for each other, if they

share and engage then we have a successful place.

For now I am going to put aside my semantic hang ups but I am going to ask

you to think of cities as organic places shaped by many hands and above all

else think of them as places for people.

Since time immemorial Cities have been shaped by the needs, ways of life

traditions, technologies and ideas of its citizens. This is as true of an ancient

Greek city as much as it is for Leicester in the 21st century. Today is primarily

about looking at these forces that shape cities. It is about speculating as to

how they might change over the next decade and what the consequences of

those changes might be for our built environment.

In some respects this is a daunting task because so much of human thought

and activity can have an impact on place. I am going to start by looking at

fairly obvious and well established trends that one can with some confidence

extrapolate and then introduce some more speculative thinking.

First up technology, not because it is the most significant agent for change but

it does have wide ranging consequences.

It is a sure bet that some current technologies will continue to improve whilst

others will emerge which we have not yet thought about and this is especially

true for ICT.

We can be pretty confident that future ICT technologies will (i) deliver even

more ubiquitous and powerful communication platforms and (ii) that these

platforms will enhance connectivity worldwide.

These advancements pose both a threat and an opportunity. The opportunity

is the ability to access a bigger world and a bigger market place. But equally

this improves access to our own markets from competitors in far off places

where operational costs are much less than in the UK.

New ICT technologies have and will also continue to erode jobs in

administrative and clerical functions. The “typing pool” is now an historic

memory and how many “call centre” operators actually don‟t operate in a

centre at all. Many operate from their home.

Offices are a relatively new phenomena and have grown exponentially over

the last half century or so. They were initially repositories for workers and

enabled distribution and supervision of work and communication both within

the office and externally via physically connected telephone cables. Whilst it

would be wrong to predict the demise of the office it would not be misleading

to suggest that this original function, because of new technologies, is

changing.

In the future expect offices to be smaller and for there to be fewer of them.

Expect them to be more about places for networking, training, sharing

knowledge or for enjoying social contact. As technology and then

subsequently globalisation dramatically shrank the need for factories so will

these same trends impact on offices.

Offices will however remain important. Increasingly in a globalised economy

our prosperity as a nation will depend on our ability to live on our “wits” and

that means nurturing the creativity at the heart of innovation. That is what UK

plc is good at and we have an enviable world wide reputation for research and

we have class leading universities. Indeed three such eminent institutions in

Leicestershire.

In the main activities associated with R&D and innovation take place in offices

or in office like structures. But herein lies the challenge. Not much of our

existing stock is suited to the needs of the 2020 office occupier. Much is in the

wrong location on anonymous anodyne business parks adjacent to motorway

junctions and not much built space is conducive to the flexible, informal

congenial spaces that future workers and their employers will demand. So in

2020 expect lots of empty space (something Leicester has previously been

plagued with) but also need for new flexible, stimulating space in City Centres

close to facilities and readily accessible.

I have already referred to globalisation as an agent for change and it is this

trend I want to focus on next.

Demographic and economic growth in India and China will in particular but not

exclusively impact our futures bringing both opportunities and threats.

Together these two countries account for a third of the world‟s population and

40% of its total working population. To get a sense of the scale of impact just

reflect on these numbers in relation to car sales. In 2005 Asia accounted for

16.8m cars sold compared to 39m in USA and Europe combined. In 2020 the

projections are 48.6m in Asia compared to US and Europe of 47.6m. These

figures are, I would suggest, a reasonable proxy for other economic

indicators.

So what? Well the opportunity is about hugely expanding markets especially

in India where Leicester has historical and cultural ties. The threat is (i) further

migration of work overseas (ii) competition for resources especially energy

and (iii) accelerating environmental risk and degradation. Let‟s unwrap some

of this.

If growth in the world economy continues at recent levels it is difficult to avoid

the conclusion that,in a world of finite resources, increased competition for

supply will increase scarcity and drive up cost. Whether or not you subscibe to

the view that we are close to reaching “peak oil” it is inevitable the price of

energy will rise disproportionately to all other costs over the coming decade.

The other challenge equally unpalatable is further strain on our battered

planet. Whether you belong to the apocalyptic camp or the slightly sceptical -

few can deny that global warming is a risk and we ignore it at our peril.

These threats demand an intelligent response. Business as usual is not

sustainable and in any event Government has got the message so expect

change. Sticks (tightening building regulations /CRC and others) and carrots

(feed in tariff) are beginning to change agendas. Fundamentally we need to

both curtail and reshape the nature of our demand for goods and services.

We need to respect ecological limits and impose caps and control and we

need to invest in green jobs, assets and infrastructure. All this has huge

implications for placemaking.

Commitment to a more sustainable urban form will require us to live in a more

compact way and in a way that is less wasteful of resources – we need to

extract more from less. We have a tendency to discard difficult brownfield

sites as we might an unfashionable garment and we seek out new greenfield

opportunities with fewer problems. Not only do higher densities mean less use

of land but they also reduce the need for travel and it becomes more

economic to provide localised services. All this helps the environment.

A more sustainable urban form would also favour where possible walking,

cycling, and public transport. Overall there should be much less use of the car

which even as a hybrid or electric variant is hugely consumptive of resources

and for most of the day is unused.

More local power generation – which is inherently more efficient – and

renewable energies should be commonplace.

As for buildings, technologies already exist to produce cost effective super

insulated structures with great air tightness that require minimal energy to run

and create minimal CO 2. We can now deliver zero carbon homes. It isn‟t that

difficult.

Population change is another key determinant of placemaking. Whilst

substantial population growth is anticipated across the globe the UK

population is likely to remain fairly static – some growth but not a lot –

although the demographic profile will change.

Firstly the number of non workers as a % of working population will rise

sharply because we have a rapidly ageing population and that will impact on

work. Second we will have an increasing number of single households. By

2020 expect over 40% of households to comprise single people and single

people have differing housing requirements than both families and couples.

In a world where we have a shrinking workforce and where economic

advantage in an increasingly connected and competitive world relates to our

ability to innovate, the future success of Cities like Leicester will revolve

around their ability to attract and retain knowledge workers with creative talent

and to attract and nurture businesses which can compete on a world stage.

For this a successful City will need to offer a good quality of life measured for

instance in terms of cultural offer, range of housing and facilities, aesthetic

mileu, vitality, diversity and openness. A successful City needs above all to be

a congenial place that permits, invites and encourages the greatest number of

meetings and encounters -- and this I would submit needs to be one of the

principle targets for Leicester in 2020.

The final determinant of change to which I want to draw attention has to do

with culture and philosophical outlook. It isn‟t yet a trend and it might not

emerge as one.

Given all the tumultuous fallout that has arisen and will continue in the

aftermath of the UK‟s deepest recession since the 1930s (I am acutely aware

the CSR is just days away ) I sense citizens from all walks of life are

beginning to question the efficacy of our current economic and social

systems. Systems that brought us close to economic meltdown, a system that

seems to punish the least advantaged but is lenient on perpetrators of

economic mistakes and a system which comprehensively threatens the long

term well being of the planet. Assuming this line of questioning, this earnest

enquiry for alternative approaches to living gathers pace then expect new

demands and new ideas about how we organise place; how we use energy

and resources and dispose of waste; how we relate to our neighbours and

where we want to live work and shop.

As I hope you will have gathered so far there are many determinants and

facets of place and Cities are fabulously complex but also quite fragile

constructs. I have tried to highlight what are in my view some of the more

powerful forces – I will have omitted some and possibly over emphasised

others but lets move on.

Pulling all this together what might these drivers for change mean for places

in 2020 and more specifically what might it mean for Leicester.

A fairly obvious target, that would respond sensibly to the many competitors

for our attention, would be to turn Leicester‟s unloved and sterile stock of

underutilised and derelict land (some 115 hectares of it) into new mixed use

neighbourhoods. The vision (which is actually not that difficult to imagine) is

for those post industrial sites located in or on the edge of the City Centre to

be re-energised by new sustainable development (I am thinking of the

opportunites at Leicester Waterside, Wolsey Island, around the station and

here around St Georges).

I invite you to put in mind for instance a whole new neighbourhood at

Leicester Waterside as an example of the possibility. Conjure up a vision of

new streets creating a framework of interconnected routes that integrate

seamlessly with the surrounding area, imagine streets which optimise access

and visibility to key assets including the river and canal. Then envision

alongside each street a variety of built form with some houses and small scale

apartments suited to a whole range of citizens needs from singles to families

and all with a wide range of incomes and amongst the homes there are small

office buildings. The whole area is compact, but privacy is protected and there

are trees on the streets. The car is subservient to the pedestrian, there are

electric charging points and a popular car share scheme (the majority of

residents do not own a car). On some streets there are small wireless

enabled cafes and elsewhere a cycle repair shop, an artisan bakery , a tailor

who repairs clothes, a small convenience store selling locally grown produce,

a local doctor and others. All rainwater is recycled and provides brown water

for toilets, energy is sourced from a local energy plant supplemented by

renewables on individual houses. There is a communal vegetable garden,

greenhouses on flat roofs and the majority of residents work part time at home

or in the local café hub and when needing to meet or train or socialise they

walk to their corporate office in the City. The office is more posh hotel than

anonymous open plan box. Surprisingly but highly successfully the offices

have been created out of the husk of a once much despised 1960s office

monolith which has been reclad and re engineered to provide some of the

most desirable space in the City. Who would have thought St Georges tower

could have had such a renaissance!